The Blue Borderline
by Nari-nick
Summary: They are lonely, and the Blue Borderline seperates them. And the thought of meeting again is the only thing that keeps them going. So, what can be done? BK
1. I

_Hello and welcome to my new little story! First of all, a very important note: This is kind of a crossover. The plot is based on a movie, a very wonderful German movie called Die Blaue Grenze that I saw last year late at night on tv. It touched and fascinated me, as it had a unique atmosphere. I wanted to write a story that transported this atmosphere, so I placed Bartimaeus and Kitty into the story and then was surprised what happened... the setting is unusual for a Bartimaeus fanfic, but I hope you like the story nevertheless. Now have fun with:_

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**The Blue Borderline**

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_When I was a kid, my grandma used to tell me legends, stories as old as the memory of mankind. _

_One said that in the old days, men and djinn and the dead lived together in one world. But with time the djinn became too mighty and the dead became too many, and the people feared them. So they banned the spirits to the Other Place, and they locked the dead in the mirrors. _

_But sometimes when…_

_Sometimes when we look at our reflection, they are there, looking over our shoulders. _

_And all the time there is a numb ache, a secret, subconscious longing within all three kinds…to be in each other's company again. I think here…might have happened something like this. _

_We all shall meet eventually, at the bluest borderline…_

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I

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**Bye**

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This was my favourite time of the day, when the air was cool and foggy. Everything was grey and calm and the cold didn't let you miss a sound as I made my way through the silence of the moor.

Yes, I was back on earth again. Four years had passed since the Nouda incident, and though in London I'd been reported dead, the news hadn't reached the shores of South England yet.

Thankfully my new master was quite alright, though bitter and afraid of people. He lived insular near the shore, in the middle of this big and lonely moor, and I could guess that life hadn't meant well with him.

Actually he only summoned me because he needed someone who helped him with the house, as he couldn't afford to pay a human assistant and the company of imps bored him.

The morning when everything changed I was on my way back to my master's house from a shopping tour. From afar I saw a foreign man leave the little house and drive away on an old and shaky scooter.

Without a sound I entered the house. Silence was somehow natural in this house, but the silence was different now, deafening really, pressing down on me. Something had happened.

The old man sat at the kitchen table, staring out of the window. I coughed. "What happened?" He didn't move.

Right, ignore me. I began to stow away the groceries I had bought for him, when he finally spoke. "My son has died" he croaked. I raised an eyebrow. "You have a son?" He still stared out of the window. "My wife and I, we broke the rules. She died so long ago back in London. They took my son away from me, and I cursed them and left the city forever."

"How do you know he died?" I asked.

"His neighbour came to tell me." Now he buried his face in his hands. "He had lived here all the time...just a few miles away."

I didn't know what to say, and therefore went for the cleverest option: keeping silent.

And again I realized that I had changed over the past years. I didn't feel like making fun of his sorrow, it didn't make me happy. I rather pitied him.

He slammed his hand on the table. "I need to get out of here" he muttered. "Pack my things; I'll stay by the sea for a few days." I obeyed and hoped that I wouldn't have to accompany him. I'm a being of fire and air, and I didn't like the sea. Or water in general.

Once in my life I was lucky. My master ordered me to tend the house. "And take care of the funeral" he said. "Otherwise, do what you like, just stay somewhere near." I nodded.

And he was gone. I sat down at the doorstep and absently watched the long blades of grass sway in the wind. Behind me, the only sound was the ticking of the grandfather clock.

I felt like the last djinn on earth.

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A lonely figure on a cliff, the sea way down below; calm and peaceful today, all around the bluest light.

Kitty took a deep breath, inhaling the salty air, trying to adapt the calmness of the ocean to her mind.

Her poor grandma, and she wondered what made her come here, because she didn't think that she could watch another loved person dying.

_Lonely, lonely, lonely, _ something inside her whispered. _You are so lonely that you prefer the company of a dying old woman to your life in the city? _

_What life_, Kitty argued. _And grandma needs me, I'm the only one left that can take care of her._

She turned away from the open sea and carefully searched her way through the rough pieces of rock into the silent autumn forest, and further to her grandma's little house near the beach. No sound but the ticking of a clock. Her grandma lay in bed as always. Sleeping soundly.

_Tic. Tic. Tic._

This clock was mocking her. "I need to get out of here", Kitty thought.

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I hate water. I hate rain. I hate getting wet generally. But I had promised to take care of the funeral, so I stood there in the maddening rain and waited for the priest to be done with his prayers. It was a depressing thing, this funeral. I was the only attendant.

"Amen, amen", I mumbled when the priest had stopped talking. He shook my hand and turned away quickly to escape the rain.

I was left there alone, staring at the open grave. What am I doing here? Damn it; get out of this unnerving shower. But somehow I couldn't just leave without a word. I raised a hand vaguely.

"Bye", I said and went away.

I _so_ have to get out of here.

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_Now guess what happenes next...;)_

_see you next chapter, I hope. Please review and tell me what you think! _

3 Nari


	2. II

_Hi, and welcome to the second chapter! Thank you everyone who send me a review about the rather featureless beginning! (Tane: Cold Case? never watched it...) I should probably warn you that after the depressing events now there's fluff ahead...dunno if that's an improvement, you'll have to see...O_o have fun!_

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II

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**Good Thing**

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Kitty fled from her grandma's house and took the next bus to the main land. She needed to be with people, and she wasn't going to be picky. She left the bus when it stopped at the port and hoped to find some kind of market place, pub or café where she could just sit among others, where the silence wouldn't drive her crazy.

As she soon discovered, this was no town for joviality. No market place, no café, and she didn't like the looks that some of the men in the only pub laid on her.

Kitty left the centre of the village and stirred towards a little forest, where she vaguely remembered to be some huts.

And then...voices, joyful voices, and laughter and music.

A party.

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I'd really've liked to see Kitty again, I realized when I wandered aimlessly through the night. But I had to stay somewhere near the house, so a trip to London was out of the question.

The night was cold and silent, except for the distant sound of the breakers. Muffled noises reached my ears, eventually the sound of cheerful conversation. I was in some kind of allotment, and as I rounded a corner I could see colourful lanterns in one of the little gardens.

A party.

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Kitty stayed behind the garden fence and watched the blue and yellow lanterns bathing the young people in peaceful light. A young man noticed her and came over. "Entry's over there", he said and grinned. She smiled back and accepted the drink he offered.

Just what she had needed. Company. Someone who talked to her. A drink or two or more of them.

And then her gaze fell on the spot at the fence where she herself had stood an hour ago. She jumped out of her seat, spilling her beer over the guys' shoes. "Sorry" she whispered. "I...", and was gone, running towards--

.

Of all places.

Of all places. Really, what are the odds?

There she was, talking to some guy who seemed to have second thoughts. I willed her to look at me, and when she did, there were no doubts on her side because she jumped up and came running. She stopped just in time before she'd crashed into the fence and touched my face.

"It's really me", I grinned. "Though I have no idea why you--" the sentence remained unfinished. She hugged me fiercely and lifted me up ((I was Ptolemy at that time, and he's much shorter than Kitty was then.)) I stretched and wriggled a bit until my form had taken her height and my feet could touch the ground again.

"Careful." I smiled when she finally let go. "Or else you'll spike yourself on that fence."

She grinned back and slapped my now broader shoulder. "Then come over already."

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Some time later we sat in a bower and soon gave up trying to understand the wonder of coincidences. She drank and I listened as she told me what had happened in the last four years.

That after her trips to Egypt she had wanted to visit her parents and discovered that they had died in a car accident two months before.

That she had been offered a job in the new government but she had refused.

That she still worked in The Frog and had had some boyfriend or other.

That she had never really believed me dead, but also never had the courage to find out for sure.

And that one day she had received that letter from her grandma who asked her to come and help her because the grandfather had died. And her grannie was dying, too.

"She lives on that island, Calm Blue, you see. It's beautiful but-"

"Lonely I guess", I said.

"Yes." She sighed and leaned her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her and felt content for the first time since I was on earth.

It was good to be with her. A good thing.

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Kitty snuggled closer to the djinn. She had drank too much, she realized, before she fell asleep in Bartimaeus' lap; vaguely hoping that this wouldn't make him uncomfortable. And it felt good, his arms around her, his hand in her hair.

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Around three o'clock in the morning the police arrived to crash the party. Kitty was still sleeping, so I carefully carried her into some nearby garden hut which was easy to be broken into.

I wrapped her in a blanket, lay down beside her and watched her in her sleep. Her pale face seemed almost white against the now again dark hair. So pale...I realized that soon her whole family would be dead. This was unfair. But I didn't want to think about her loneliness, as it made me remember my own.

Kitty's eyelids fluttered and opened slightly.

"What time is it?" she whispered.

"Round half past three" I said quietly. "Sleep some more."

She smiled and obediently closed her eyes again. Her hand crept across my chest and she buried her face in my neck. I tried not to move. "She's drunk" I told myself. "_Drunk_."

When I was sure she was asleep again I put my hand behind her head and pulled her closer. Drunk she might have been but she smelled good.

Peaceful.

There was a humming in the air.

She caressed my side in her sleep.

_She's drunk._

...A good thing.

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_I did warn you, didn't I? reviews make me happy! love you guys!_


	3. III

_yupiduu, hello guys! thanks for all the reviews: Con, Tane, Lisette, Kelcia, Riiko, Bibby and Duchessa! You rock hard! _

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III

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**Sunrise**

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5 o' clock.

I didn't bother when a car stopped outside the hut. Though, when the door was flung open with a loud bang and Kitty stirred in my arms, I looked up slightly irritated.

"Ever heard of knocking?" I asked the guy who entered the hut and... aimed a pistol at me?!

"Quiet! Police!" he snarled. I raised an eyebrow. "The cavalry arrived, Kitty" I murmured. She grumbled and buried her face even deeper in my neck. Hm...

"Did you two break into this house?" the police guy asked. He seemed very excited, but then this supposed burglary was probably the most exciting thing that ever happened in his so-called career.

"It's a hut" I said friendly.

"Can you identify yourselves?" I tugged at Kitty's ear. "You got papers by now, Kitty?"

She opened an eye and scowled at me, then pulled her purse from the back pocket of her jeans and showed the police man her pass. He looked at me. "And you?"

Oh how happy he was that I had none and he could take us to the police post.

Oh what a night.

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Kitty was annoyed. "Really, is it that hard to get that guy come over?" she snapped at the police officer, who tried his best to stare her down in return. But nothing was more powerful than Kitty's glare of death.

"He'll arrive any minute now" the officer mumbled. "When he gets on land again. He's a fisherman."

Kitty crossed her arms and looked at Bartimaeus, who shrank under her gaze. She just rolled her eyes and shivered. It was cold in the interrogation room.

Bartimaeus reached out and took her hands in his. "Sorry" he murmured, quite contrite, rubbing her hands to get some warmth into them. "Didn't know they'd make such a fuss."

"It's ok" she said. "I just hope we can go before sunrise. My gran is all alone now."

Finally, the door opened and a man entered the little room.

"Ah" the police officer beamed. "You're the owner of the hut?"

"Yo" he said.

"Please sit down." The officer gestured at a chair next to Kitty. "Well." He rubbed his hands together and looked quite exited. "Is it true, that you two broke into said garden hut?"

"Actually" Bartimaeus confessed "it was just me. Kitty was already sleeping, and we needed a dry place we could stay in."

"I'm sorry." Kitty added in the direction of the fisherman. "Of course we'll buy a new lock for the door."

"Alright" the man said and nodded.

"So" the officer spoke up again, "You will press charges against the two?"

The man looked at Kitty and Bartimaeus, her tired face, his guilty expression. "Nope." he said.

"No..." the officer repeated, crestfallen. Silence. Then, he pushed back his chair and stood up. "You may go." he snarled. "The next time you won't be so lucky."

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_Sunrise. _

_The sunrise is so beautiful at the seaside. Everything is calm and somehow golden. Rays of silent light stream through the hole in the clouds, as if above the cloudy cover there is a world that's made of purest gold, an Other Place of some kind. And the calm ocean is made of gold too, in those early silent hours._

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She still held his hand, she noticed, as they left the police station and slowly walked towards the quay.

"Thanks for not getting us in trouble" she said to the fisherman and smiled at him.

"Wouldn't be a point" he winked. "I see you're good guys. Just buy me another lock and that's it."

"Alright", Bartimaeus said.

"Yeah, like you could buy him a lock" Kitty huffed when the man was gone. Bartimaeus looked sheepishly. "I'm sorry. But you couldn't sleep outdoors, it's too cold already."

Kitty gave a lopsided grin. "I know you meant well. Thank you." her stomach rumbled audibly. She was hungry, and with a start she remembered that her grandma needed her breakfast too. "I have to go home" she said reluctantly. Bartimaeus nodded. "I'll walk you to the bus."

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The doors opened with a hissing noise and Kitty climbed in. She turned to me and smiled. "It was good to see you" she said silently.

I nodded.

She leaned toward me. What was she doing? What I'd just thought of doing myself?

There was a humming in the air.

Our faces were inches apart now. "Will we...?" I asked hoarsely.

Electricity.

The doors closed, dividing us in a most impolite way.

Annoyed, Kitty knocked her head against the door and rolled her eyes apologetically. I raised a hand and smiled, defeated.

The bus left and Kitty said something I didn't quite catch. It could have been "We'll see each other again."

Well, I hoped so.

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When?

_Kitty..._

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_sorry for the shortness -.- Next chapter will be longer, promise! reviews make me happy!_


	4. IV

_yahoo people! new chapter, despite cold and cough and homework! The lyrics in the beginning are by Coldplay, I listened to X&Y while writing this and I thought it fitted somehow. Have fun reading!_

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IV

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**Silence**

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_An answer now is what I need_

_I see it in the new sun rising and_

_See it break on your horizon, oh_

_Come on love, stay with me_

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_Can you hear me? _

Nothing but the ticking of the clock. Her thoughts went out to Bartimaeus. Again.

What was he doing right now?

She couldn't think of anything to do but lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. And that scared her.

_Bartimaeus? Can you hear me?_

Such a loud silence.

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Reluctantly I had returned to the house. And absent-minded I had done the chores; you know, swung a feather duster and pretended it was cleaner afterwards; watered the flowers ((which was completely useless, as the ones in the house were already dead, and the ones in the garden were molding away because of the constant rain)) and...you know. Thought of the night.

A good night.

In the moor, every sound was swallowed by the wetness of the ground and the fog. It was so silent. In my head, I could hear Kitty speaking to me. Maybe I was going crazy after all.

_'Course I can hear you, stupid_, I thought.

Can you hear _me_? Don't think so.

And when I closed my eyes it was her face I saw.

What the hell was I still doing in this bloody house? I had to see her again. This couldn't wait, I missed her already. Maybe she'd come over again this evening?

Bye, silent house. Hello, silent village.

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...She hadn't come.

duh...

The next morning I was sitting at the little haven and felt lost again.

Maybe something had happened to her gran and she was stuck on that island and didn't know what to do? Thousand worst-case scenarios came to mind. One more improbable than the other, but still...I had to know. Had to see her.

The wind tousled my hair as I watched the distant shore of Calm Blue. Somewhere over there was Kitty. Somewhere behind all that blue.

Don't you already know what you have to do?

Of course I did. Of course. I had to get on that damn island. Calm Blue. Sure.

A bird should do. I became a sea gull and took off.

And soon realized that it wouldn't work that way. The wind became a little storm above the water, and though I was a being of air, water really got to me. The storm tossed me through the air like children throw a ball, and it took my whole strength to avoid being plunged into the ocean. Wet and tired I crawled on land again. It had to work some other way. I had to.

_I had to go to Calm Blue._

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Someone was there, behind the hedge in the neighbour garden. Kitty heard him talking to himself and tried to find a hole in the hedge so she could take a look at the newcomer.

What an event, she thought, scolding herself cynically. Other people! I really must be--

It was a young man, around her age, a bit younger maybe. Kitty could make out dark short hair, a pale face, but from what she could see through the leaves, he seemed quite attractive. His eyes were dark and serious, and they widened when he heard her.

"Hello?" he called. "I'm your new neighbour."

Kitty left her spying place and rounded the edge of the hedge to face him.

Can't be...

Hey, she said.

Hey...

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_When I was a kid, my grandma used to tell me legends, stories as old as the memory of mankind..._

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"You're the new neighbour."

"Yes" she nodded, and not for the first time thought that this island was something special.

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_tic. tic. tic._

somewhere there's love...

will you shut up?

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The next morning was cold, that kind of cold that crept into Kitty's head and somehow made her see everything clearer, a cold that made her watch the grey sea and feel that she was a part of it all.

The wind pulled on her hair and yellow jacket; it seemed to drive her forward, along the deserted beach. Almost deserted. On the far side, next to a group of rocks that shielded him from the wind, an old man sat in the sand. He had set up a little tent and at the moment tried to start a small fire.

"Hey" said Kitty when she stood beside him. The man looked up, nodded, looked at the sea, at Kitty again.

" 'morning."

Kitty took that as a greeting rather than a statement. "Need help with that?"

The man nodded again. Kitty sat down beside him when the fire was going and watched him making coffee. "What are you doing here?" she finally asked.

"I needed to get away" he answered and stared into the flames. "At home, it stinks. Where people die, it stinks."

People die everywhere, Kitty thought and drew circles in the sand. "Who died?" Tiny circles, bigger circles. Swept away.

"The stink" the man murmured, "My wife. My son. It all smelled of death. I had to get away. I need fresh air."

"Good thinking" Kitty said.

"I need to be alone."

Kitty stood up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No no, stay if you want to..." the man said absent minded.

Kitty thought indeed that being alone was the last thing the man should do, as he'd probably been alone far too long already, but she didn't want to say it. Anyway, what would it mean, coming from her?

"I'm staying with my grandma" she said. "I lost my parents and all my friends."

Almost.

"You know..." she paused. "First I never wanted to see my parent's graves. But I think running away won't help. At least not forever. Because..." she stared at the ocean. "You must say goodbye, or they'll follow you wherever you go. Wondering if you didn't love them enough to say farewell."

She got up. "If you're hungry, please come to our house."

The man didn't seem to hear her. He was lost in the sea, the movement of the sea.

Running away won't help forever.

Yeah, right.

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I sat at the quay and watched the horizon. Everything blurred in the distance, a blue veil.

_Can you hear me?_

I thought I could feel her touch again and I shuddered as the voice inside started mocking me again: _so lonely? Let me come up to the light and the warmth... _

I buried my face in my hands. _Shut up_, I thought. _I'm working on it. _Talking to myself, this was just great. Not.

The nearing crackle of a motorboat made me look up. The little boat came to rest beside my dangling feet and the fisherman climbed onto the dock, swearing and coughing, dropping wet.

"Bad day?" I asked. He snorted. "You don't say." When he looked up I recognized him as the guy in whose hut Kitty and I had spent the night.

"Wait, I'll help you with that" I said and heaved the net out of the boat. "Thanks" he coughed.

"No problem." I followed him inside his shed and with a little gesture started a fire in the fireplace so he could warm up soon.

"Thanks again" he grinned. "A demon, eh? Well, I knew you were a good one. No need in having you and your girl arrested."

So he had recognized me too. Nice guy. ((I didn't' bother asking why he didn't run away screaming upon discovering my true nature. To keep things simple, I decided he was probably just a nice guy.))

"Do you know the fastest way to go to Calm Blue?" I asked.

"Calm Blue, eh? That's easy" he said and wriggled out of his soaked jacket. "The bridge is the fastest way."

"Bridge?"

"Yeah...maybe two miles from here. Direct connection."

I felt incredibly stupid. What had I thought, that Kitty in the bus had flown over the ocean? So, walking.

"What do you want on Calm Blue?" fisherman-guy asked.

"The girl." I said. "I want to see her."

"I'd want to see her again too" he chuckled. "You know what? Take my scooter to go there. You might want to avoid getting too much attention."

Nice guy.

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_Did you notice it was rather long? yay...Please review and tell me what you think!_


	5. V

_Hello my hard rocking amigos! __Sorry for the late update, but I'm drowing in my homework right now...thanks for your reviews Con, Lisette, Bibby, Duchessa, Broken Pentacle and Riiko! Again, lyrics in this chapter, this time from Bloc Party's "Signs". Probably the saddest and most beautiful song ever :) Have fun!_

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V

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**Horizon**

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Walking would've gotten me to the bridge faster than the scooter. When I finally arrived there after what felt like hours, the place was empty and the last tired rays of sunlight shimmered on the now calmer sea. Slowly I rolled towards the bridge and past the small lodge, when suddenly a watchman stormed out and practically threw himself in my way.

"Woah" I yelled, barely avoiding running him over "Watch it man!"

He shook himself and looked at me unfriendly. "Papers?!" he snarled. He seemed somehow familiar.

"Oh hey." I remembered. "Weren't you a police guy a few days ago?" It was the man who had tried to arrest me.

"I'm on bridge guarding duty on Fridays and Tuesdays." he huffed. "Papers?"

"What papers?"

"_Your_ papers. ID card, passport, driver's license."

I gawked at him. "Are you serious? I'm not going abroad. It's still UK over there, you know?"

"Papers!" he cried stubbornly.

"Are you still offended because you couldn't arrest us?" I asked. "Get over it and let me pass."

"So you don't have any papers?"

"No" I yelled. "Screw the papers, I need to go to Calm Blue!"

"Without papers you'll go nowhere." Now he had that evil arrogant grin plastered all over his cheesy catastrophe of a face. I considered eating him, but abandoned this thought again. Kitty wouldn't like that. And this wasn't London; here a missing police guy would surely attract attention.

So I reluctantly turned the scooter around and tried to think of a plan B.

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Plan B.

The bus. Hahaa! It was so easy, just get into the bus and get over the bridge.

...but there he was _again_, that DAMNED police guy! He actually had the nerve to stop the bus and take a look at the passengers. I dived behind the upholstery and tried to be inconspicuous.

"What are you doing?" the annoying little girl beside me asked.

"I'm...er...playing hide and seek" I hissed. She beamed and slapped me over the head. "GOT YOU" she crowed. Before I could become a fly or something comparable small, the police guy towered over me. "Papers?" he asked icily. I scowled at the girl and stood up.

"I MUST go to Calm Blue!" I said desperately. "Don't you see I MUST?"

"We all must do so many things" he said dryly. "Have papers, for a start."

"...please?"

He just stared at me.

"Why don't you get a life, man?" I asked the guy before leaving the bus and walking back to the village. I didn't imagine a triumphant laughter behind me, I'm sure I didn't.

To hell with police-I-don't-have-a-life- guy.

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On the cliff.

Horizon.

_Can you hear me?_

_Lonely,_ the voice inside her said. _Why do you pretend there're no people around? Get up! Get OUT!_

…_can you hear me? _

Bartimaeus...

I don't need _people_, I just need....

Crying would make the ocean only bluer.

_I need-_

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The fisherman looked up in surprise when I heavily sat down next to him on the quay.

"Back so soon?" he asked.

"I didn't even get there" I grumbled. "Mad police-one-day-bridge-guard-other-day guy wouldn't let me go."

"Oh, him. Well, wait till his shift is over and go next week."

I stared at the horizon.

Kitty...

"I don't want to wait till next week" I said. "I have to go now."

"I see...how about flying or swimming? Shouldn't be a problem, eh?"

"Doesn't work with me. Water weakens me, and the winds are too strong. I already tried."

"Look, why don't you help me a bit with those nets and then I'll help you thinking of something to get you to your girl?"

"She's not my-" I started. "Alright. What do you want me to do?"

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The next day I helped him again. He had made a good catch.

"Was lucky" he said contently. "'Cause lately there's too few fish left."

I looked at the horizon, where dark blue spots disappeared in the blue between ocean and sky. "Is that Calm Blue, over there?" I asked and pointed at one of the spots.

The man looked up briefly. "Yeah."

"Couldn't we go fishing over there?"

"Nope" he said. "No fish there."

"Why is no fish there?"

"Dunno. They just disappeared."

I looked at the distant island again. "Maybe they returned."

He rolled his eyes.

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Later I was sorting the fish when I found it. The bottle mail.

"One of those again" fisherman guy said, looking over my shoulder.

"Again?"

"Yeah, it's really strange...I mean, what are the odds of fishing even one out? But I've seen three in the last two years."

"Yeah, what are the odds..." I said absent minded. I pulled the letter out of the bottle. It was wet and the writing was smeared. "Can you read this?" I asked.

"Something about ... the border...borderline? Blown....no, blue. 'At the blue borderline' maybe?"

_somewhere there's love..._

The horizon seemed so far.

_Can you hear me?!_ I screamed in my thoughts. _Why don't you come back?! Don't you feel this, stupid?_

_And you?_ the voice inside said dryly. _You're just as lost. No worse, you don't even have a dying grandma that needs you here. Get up! Now!_

I jumped up. "I have to-" "I know, go to that island." he interrupted. "It's getting dark. At least, wait till tomorrow."

Wait, yeah. Thank you, but no. Not possible.

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_Two ravens in an old oak tree, one for you and one for me_

_...I see signs now all the time_

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"How was your day?"

The boy shrugged. "Quiet, I guess. Not much to do round here."

Kitty nodded. The boy looked kind of lost, but no wonder there. She didn't feel much different.

"I know a nice place. You'll like it." she said. "We could go on a walk."

The autumn forest was beautiful. The trees were silver against the coloured dead leaves, golden leaves rained down on them.

"What are you doing here?" Kitty asked for the second time that day.

"I'm..." the boy paused. "That's rather complicated. I guess I'm waiting for someone. Or rather...I'm waiting for something to happen. I don't really know..." He took her hand and looked her in the eyes.

The wind didn't rustle the dry leaves, the birds stopped singing.

It was silent, so silent.

Kitty wondered if she was deaf when he leaned forward tentatively and shyly kissed her pale cheek.

She dropped his hand. "Sorry I...I got to go."

A storm was coming.

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_Duh, drama...:D Please review if you liked it! Or if you didn't. Whatever^^ see you soon!_


	6. VI

_Hey...long time no read, I'm so sorry. You'd think in my summer break I'd have tons of free time, but I seem to be busier than ever with work and home-work. So here, finally, a new chapter. Please enjoy!_

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VI

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**Tempest**

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Kitty sat by the window and waited for the storm to break loose. The sky was already loaded with black clouds, the sea was molten lead.

"A storm is coming, eh Kitty?" her grandma croaked. Kitty turned and smiled.

"Yes. Everything's black and grey already."

The old woman nodded and closed her eyes. "There were no storms when your grandfather was still here." She smiled and Kitty knew that she was far away, on an orange coloured day. "He'll be happy to hear about you, girl." the grannie said. "I'll tell him how pretty you are when we meet again. At the blue borderline."

"Blue borderline?" Kitty asked.

The old woman nodded. "He'll come to me in time. I sent him a message."

Kitty nodded and averted her eyes. The first raindrops hit the windowpane. She remembered something.

"I'll be right back, grannie" she called as she put on her yellow jacket, grabbed a flashlight and ran out into the storm.

.

I felt bad about taking the boat, I really did. He was a good guy and all. But I needed his boat, that much was certain. So, ste– eh, borrowing was the way.

He would be angry when he discovered the missing ship, but hey, he'd get it back the next day. That was my plan. Good plan? Sure. Couldn't fail. Ab-so-lute-ly foolproof.

...Mayyybe it'd been a not-so-clever idea setting sail at the eve of the storm, ((in the dead of the night on top of that)) but somehow I saw no alternative. You know, like now or never.

When I had made it halfway, Hell broke loose. The waves became black towers that wanted to crush me. The boat was a little ball the waves tossed back and forth, up and down.

I tried changing my form, but for one the water made me weak, and another form, I realized, wouldn't do any good. As a bird, the winds would blow me away, and heavy birds can't fly. A heavy guise in the boat would sink it at once. Abandoning it wasn't an option–I'd go under inevitably. I felt sick. Direction I had lost the moment the storm had begun.

Panic grew in me.

Panic, I ask you. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd been in panic. Probably never. All around me deafening noise, roaring black water, screaming wind and thunder that made my essence shiver. No horizon. I was lost.

.

Finally her flashlight found him on the beach; from the distance she saw him fighting with his tent, and she saw that it was a lost fight.

"Hey" she screamed, the wind carrying her voice away. She ran as fast as the whipping rain would allow her. "HEY!"

The old man looked up.

"Leave it" Kitty called. "Come on! You'll drown if you stay here."

The man just looked at her. She didn't care about what she could guess he thought right then; she grabbed his arm and pulled him with her. "Don't you remember what I told you?!" she screamed.

.

Suddenly...there was a light. A small light somewhere behind the deadly walls of water. The light danced, moved, and held still for a while.

A flashlight, I realized. Must be. Somewhere over there's the shore, and people with flashlights. Must be. Hope bloomed in me and suffocated the panic.

There was my lighthouse, my direction.

I screamed at the sodding motor to get a bloody move and summoned my strength to stir the boat towards the light. It moved again now, but I didn't avert my eyes till it disappeared from my view, and that was the moment my boat crashed at the shore.

As a giant bear I pushed the boat onto the beach where I flipped it over and finally, as a little fox, took refuge under it, waiting for the morning to come.

.

"Please come in." Kitty gestured to the living room. "I'll make tea, my tea is great."

She stuck her head into her grandma's room. "Grannie, do you want-" she stopped.

The old thin woman sat up straight in her bed, her eyes stared into nothingness. "I had the strangest dream, Kitty" she whispered.

A loud bang and the sound of shattering glass prevented Kitty from rushing to her side; instead she turned and ran into the garden. "Hello?" she yelled. The storm was deafening. The noise, so much noise, she felt like losing her head.

"Kitty?!" someone called. The boy, soaking wet and ghostly pale, his face torn, ran towards her. "Everything's gone! Everything!" he screamed. "It's-"

"There never was-"Kitty tried, but _what for?_ she realized before she finished the sentence.

"Kitty" the boy said. He looked so helpless, and she had wished she'd never have to see him like this ever again.

"Come in, calm down" she said, and hurried back inside.

The old man had found the tea bags. Water was already boiling. Her grandma still just sat there, unmoving, blind and deaf to the world. Kitty kneed down beside the bed and carefully took her thin hand. So thin and fragile, transparent. "Grannie, what happened?" Strain in her voice.

"I had the strangest dream" the woman said again. She sounded tired, frightened and terribly old.

"It was a sunny day. The trees were green and the larks were singing." Kitty briefly closed her eyes. She saw it right before her, as if she had been there too.

"And then a boy came. He was suddenly there. You know", she closed her unblinking eyes. "Out of the blue. Yes", she nodded "The Blue. Everything was blue then. Kitty..." Finally she opened her eyes again and looked directly into Kitty's wide and worried ones. "This boy was in danger."

The constant _pling_ of dripping water behind her reminded Kitty of her neighbour who still stood unmoving in the doorframe. He stared at her as if he had a revelation.

"No, no" the grannie croaked "It wasn't him I saw."

Kitty looked from him to her grannie and at him again and it dawned on her and suddenly she felt terribly tired.

"Kitty" he said, "Kitty..." She looked at him and she felt so tired, oh God so tired. The voice screamed inside her. "_DO something-!"_ and kept on screaming at her, "I can't-" and she felt like breaking down, like everything was too much right now; and now Kitty noticed the noise all around, and wasn't that what she had yearned for, noise, _life_? But it really was _not_, she knew that now, it wasn't, and suddenly -LONELY- she understood what she had to do- she really needed to _do_ something---

"Kitty!"

"-yes" she said. "I know." He needed to know, that much was inescapable clear. "Come on." She took his hand and led him into her room. "I'll explain everything."

.

"You see" she began. "_When I was a kid, my grandma used to tell me legends, stories as old as the memory of mankind. _

_One said that in the old days, men and djinn and the dead lived together in one world. But with time the djinn became too mighty and the dead became too many, and the people feared them. So they banned the spirits to the Other Place, and they locked the dead in the mirrors. _

_But sometimes when…_

_Sometimes when we look at our reflection, they are there, looking over our shoulders."_

He didn't move, just listened like children listen to a fairy tale- wide eyed, mouth slightly open, they just believe, they know it's true- and Kitty fetched a small mirror, hesitantly held it up for him to look at his reflection.

She whispered now. "_And all the time there is a numb ache, a secret, subconscious longing within all three kinds…to be in each other's company again. I think here…might have happened something like this."_

He stared into the mirror, and he understood. "I'm-"

She shrugged, nodded, knitted her eyebrows. Then he looked at her.

"Oh..."

"Yes."

Deafening thunder outside, and the rain slowly ceased to a silent mizzle. They didn't move for a long time.

The storm was over.

_._

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_._

_oh the drama again! I can't do without it obviously^^ please review, and I promise the next chapter will come soon!_


	7. VII

_Guys, thanks so much for your reviews: Lisette, Random Inspired, Tane, Bibby, Lady of the Mirror, Miss Milli, Riiko, Conception and Duchessa! In this chapter, I used a quote from one of my favourite novels: Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck. Go read it if you haven't already. It's a book you read a thousand times, and each time you discover something new :)_

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VII

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**Other Fish**

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So blue.

So clean and clear, the morning, the calmness after the storm. Like nothing had ever happened. But something _had_ happened.

Kitty had made a decision, and so had the old man. "If you go look for the boy, I'll come with you and see my son", he told her. "We go together", she agreed.

Nathaniel had left while she had been still asleep. She suspected he'd wander around the island, and felt she shouldn't disturb him at it. He was there, talking and walking and breathing, that was a fact, but she wasn't so crazy as trying to understand how and why. It would be alright eventually. And now she just needed one person:

And she would find him, sure as hell she would.

.

So I was stranded on Calm Blue.

You should have seen the sunrise.

After the night of horror I bathed in the soft light, mesmerized by the colours.

The shore was rocky and on the cliffs high above me I could catch a glimpse on some bare trees. Now I was finally here there was no point wasting any more time, so I got up and walked along the beach.

I passed the torn remainders of a tent on my way. One could only hope that the camper had left in time. The beach ended in a narrow tarred street, which led to a small house. Behind it, somewhere in the blue distance, I could make out a village and a leaving bus. One way to go.

Something told me that the house held answers, soI entered the silence. Nothing audible but the unnerving ticking of a clock and the sound of the breakers.

"Hello", I called. Teacups on the table, a yellow jacket hung over a chair. I called again as I made my way through the tiny kitchen and living room and cautiously opened the last door.

The old woman just looked at me.

"Hello" I said lamely. She just nodded. Not unfriendly, just accepting. There was no surprise in her face, which in return surprised me. I had never seen her before, yet she seemed to know my face. Now she knitted her thin eyebrows.

"...do you know Kitty?" I asked.

She nodded again and smiled. It was a worried smile.

.

The bus stopped near the port, and Kitty got up. "Don't you want to come, too, Sir?", she asked the old man that still sat in his seat. For the first time since she knew him he smiled at her. It was a pleasant smile, lit up his old and wrinkled face.

"No, I'll go see my son's grave." He laid his hand on hers and squeezed it gently. "Thank you. I hope you'll find your friend." She smiled and climbed out of the bus, waving after it.

Now, on with it. Kitty had no idea where Bartimaeus could possibly be. He hadn't told her where his master lived, but...hadn't he mentioned that he could stay where he liked most of the time anyway? Instinct led her on.

The hut.

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Great. My timing was just great. ((Nothing new there, I know.)) I could've kicked myself.

When I left the house, hope had left me. Was I never to see Kitty again? And now it seemed the old lady had told her I was in danger. Me! Hello? I could look after myself. Kitty on the other hand...who knew what perverted old man she had in her company now?

I had to get back, and soon. So back to the boat.

I swore and kicked up the wet sand on the beach. Of course: today the weather was so calm and sunny, I could probably fly back easily. But then I thought of my fisherman-friend who'd probably kill me if on top of stealing his only boat in the dead of the night I also left it lying on some beach. Flying wasn't an option today.

At least the motor still worked. Woohey.

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The allotment was deserted. "_Nobody there_" Kitty realized as she stood in front of the little hut. No Bartimaeus. Where else could she look? If only she had the address of his master...

Discouraged, she turned around and left the gardens.

It was a beautiful day. The autumn sun felt warm on her face. Kitty closed her eyes, stood still in the middle of the road and breathed deeply.

She imagined Bartimaeus by her side. "_Hey_" he'd say and smile his lopsided smile that could mean everything and nothing (but she liked to think it meant everything) _"are you tired already? Dude, if everyone gave up so fast, the walls of Prague would still be standing"_ he'd say. Kitty grinned. "Look who's talking" she murmured.

"Hey."

She opened her eyes with a start. In front of her stood the fisherman with his little scooter, but he didn't look very content.

"Good morning" Kitty said. "I...er...have the money for the new lock...if you..." He waved with his hand. "Did he at least find you?" he asked.

"Eh?"

"Your demon friend...was whining endlessly about how he so needed to see you and then" he snorted "then he goes and _steals my boat_."

"He...what?" Kitty tried to understand the last part but still dwelled on what he had said before..._he so needed to see you_...was that really Bartimaeus, she thought skeptically.

The fisherman interpreted her face as a reaction to his excitement. "Yes, he stole it" he repeated. "When you find him, tell him that if doesn't bring it back, I'll..."he huffed. "Dunno...I'll set you on him or something."

Kitty nodded. "S'alright. I tell him. Don't worry, I'm sure he just er...borrowed it." In her head everything was spinning round. _Needed to see her..._

And she needed to see him.

"I'll go find him" she said and turned around.

"You may take my scooter" the man said. "Looks like I got a free day anyway, thanks to your friend."

Kitty smiled apologetically and gratefully took the keys he offered. "Thank you, you'll have them back this evening. And the boat. Promise." With that she mounted the scooter and off she went.

.

I had almost reached the mainland, when the motor announced his oncoming death by sputtering loudly and making various unhealthy noises. Then it was very silent, apart from the rushing of the sea.

_Why me?_

That the shore wasn't all that far away made me even less willing to leave the boat here. This was insulting. Hopeless, I buried my face in my hands. No idea for how long I just sat there, unmoving. Thoughts drifting. Kitty...damn you. Where the hell _are_ you?

A croak made me look up. While the sea gulls drew circles in the air high above me, an audicious crow had taken seat on the edge of the boat and looked at me with its head cocked.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

_Look at you,_ it seemed to say.

"So, what? I'm a noble djinn. No need to make fun of me just because I seem to be out of luck."

_Is she worth all this?_

I sighed. "Look" I said, "Not that you'd understand, but I'll tell you something: They say of an amputee that he remembers his leg. _I _remember _Kitty_. I am not whole without her, I am not alive without her. Even when we were fighting I was whole. At the time, I didn't realize how important it was, but I do now."

I imagined the crow to raise an eyebrow.

"Don't look like this!" I continued. "I am not an idiot. I know that if I should win her I'll have many horrible times. But I also know that if I fail I'll never be whole. As a stupid crow, you will wonder, 'why her? Look among your own kind if you want to be happy. There are better fish in the sea!' But you have no idea. Let me tell you that to me not only are there no better fish, there are no other fish in the sea _at all_. The sea is lonely without this fish."

The crow still looked at me. Stupid critter.

_Then what are you waiting for?_

I stamped a foot. I didn't have to put up with such arrogance. "Get lost!" I yelled at it.

With a snide caw it took off and flew towards the near shore.

Damn it, I thought. Damn you, stupid motor. I pushed magic into it, but as usual, magic and mechanics didn't work together. I pulled the starter hard, then with feeling, then hard again. Real hard. With a frustrated battle cry I stamped my foot and pulled again and again, like a madman.

And that was when I lost my balance, and fell into the sea.

.

Now that Kitty knew that he had taken the boat, it was clear where Bartimaeus was. On his way to see her. Which meant, he'd be on Calm Blue, while she wasted her time searching him on the mainland. She could have kicked herself, or even better _him_, for clearly all this was his fault alone. Who else would be so daft and steal a boat to–

Suddenly a nameless fear gripped Kitty's heart. He had taken the boat in the middle of the night, but surely he hadn't been so _stupid_ and sailed out in the storm? Because that would mean...

She willed the scooter to go faster.

He couldn't be dead.

_This boy was in danger_, she heard her grannie say. Kitty gritted her teeth. There was the road on top of the dunes, now the bridge wasn't that far away. She accelerated. The wind tore at her hair and made the scooter lurch.

– and then, a crow came out of nowhere and bounced right into her, and Kitty lost balance. With a cry, she tumbled down the dune, rolled over and over, and finally came to a halt on the beach.

Swearing, Kitty tried to stand up and looked around for the scooter. Her gaze fell on something on the sea. Not so far away, a boat. Someone in the boat. Screaming and cursing, the wind carried the sound to the beach.

Could it be...

The boat bobbed up and down on the water. Swayed dangerously. Kitty ran towards the water, the nearer she came the clearer it was.

It was him. She had found him, finally.

And then her heart sank as she saw him fall.

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_Now this story comes to an end. The next will be the final chapter, so look out ;) Until then!_


	8. VIII

_Guys, I'm back with the end! Sorry for the delay...I hope you'll enjoy the last chapter. Thanks for all the reviews and favs: Conception, Lisette, Bibby, Tane and Riiko!_

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VIII

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**The Blue**

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Of course I coudn't drown. Not really. If I tried hard, I could probably get to the surface again. But I didn't feel like it. Now I felt like letting go.

I was tired. So tired. And sinking wasn't so bad.

Light glinting.

The silence...

The blue.

Sinking isn't what I thought it'd be. I always thought it'd feel heavy and frustrating, like losing and giving up, like sensing death with every fiber of your being.

But actually it is like flying. Just in the opposite direction.

It's easy. Gravity released me and somehow I was fascinated.

The thought of changing form didn't even cross my mind. Slowly I raised Ptolemy's hands and looked at them.

Eerie. But peaceful. Blue light dancing around.

.

_Idiot._

_Idiot._

_Idiot._

"Bartimaeus!" _Idiot._

Kitty ran. She couldn't remember ever running so fast.

Not even when the wolves had chased her. It seemed to have been in another life now; the fear, the darkness, the chase over the rooftops of London. At that time, Bartimaeus had saved her.

Or when she had tried to escape the demons in the parliament hall, but ran straight into the arms of the mercenary. Later, Bartimaeus had tried to save her again. And saved her again and again that night, in the Other Place, then with Nathaniel in the Glass Palace.

Now it was her turn.

_Idiot_, she thought furiously as she ran right into the crashing waves and waded into the open sea, ripping her heavy jacket off and throwing it away as she ran. She wasn't fast enough, the water was slowing her.

"Bartimaeus!"

_Don't you dare..._

Now she had to swim. The water bit her, it was like ice. Her skin prickled.

Now she was near the boat. She dived and thanked the gods that the sea wasn't deep here and underwater it was light enough so she could still see him.

Flowing under her. Sinking.

_Bartimaeus!_

Come on!

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I was dying.

Either that, or going crazy. Something was pulling me in the wrong direction. I looked up, where the sun drew a soft spot of light into the water. It had gone dark. Someone blocked it out. And grabbed my hand.

.

Got him.

He turned his head to look at her. She saw his eyes focus and then go wide. No resistance anymore. His hand gripped hers, finally.

Up now. Up.

.

Was it me who said I felt like letting go? Kitty held me tightly. I held her. No way I'd ever let her go again.

.

_the sky wore a veil of gold and green_

_and time is just floating away_

_we can watch it and stay_

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When Kitty could think again, she realized she was lying on the beach. She kept her eyes closed and breathed in, her lungs were still screaming for air. _I could have drowned, _the thought shortly crossed her mind, but she pushed it back to where it came from. She hadn't drowned. And neither had Bartimaeus.

Which was the main thing, though she didn't know why that was so.

And speaking of Bartimaeus...

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Kitty breathed heavily, but I was very still. What had just happened?

I heard how she turned her head, and looked at her.

"Bartimaeus", she said. Something tingled, a tiny bell somewhere inside. Made me feel dizzy. She raised a hand.

And slapped me one. Hard.

Ouch.

"Now don't ask what that was for", she said.

I hadn't planned to. It was quite clear. I rubbed my head while she lay back into the sand again. Her hair was wet, a mass of tiny curls. She shivered, I saw goosebumps on her arms. A small fire appeared at my fingertips and then settled on her belly, where it send waves of warmth over her slender form.

"Better?" I asked. She nodded and I swear I even saw a tiny smile.

"I'm sorry", I started, and then tried to explain why exactly she had found me flowing in the ocean. Yes, I had felt lonely. Then the police guy. The fisherman. Nice guy. No, I just borrowed the boat. No, I just barely drowned that night. Her grannie was worried, by the way. And what the hell made her go away with some guy she barely knew? And thanks for pulling me out.

When I was finished, she turned her head and looked at me again. The sound of the sea was drowned out, it was really silent suddenly.

Electricity.

And electricity when her hand searched for mine on the sand, and our cold fingers touched.

"So, _sorry_ for all the chaos." I said apologetically. "But I _really_ had to see you"

Now she grinned. "You have no idea." She began to laugh, a relieved laugh. I smiled and joined in. I felt good. With every fiber of my being, I felt good.

The sand was warm.

My eyes never looked away from hers, and she sat up and bend forward and softly kissed me on the lips. It was like waking up finally after the last few days. Or years. Whatever. It was wet also. But that was just the seawater dripping off her hair.

"What do we do now?" she asked and smiled. I grabbed her hair and pulled her down again. With her one hand she touched my neck. Her long lashes fluttered, could feel them against my cheek. Her lips, still wet and salty. Tasted good.

"What do we do now?" she asked again, mouth against my ear.

"Don't know." I said. "But don't you need to get out of those wet clothes?"

She slapped me. "Didn't know you're a pervert" she said and grinned.

"I'm full of surprises" I mumbled and gently caressed her cheek.

Together we lay there and looked into the open sky.

I really didn't know what we'd do now. Where we'd go or where we'd end up. And I thought that was good.

A good thing.

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_Are the streets you're walking on_

_A thousand houses long_

_Well that's where I belong_

_And you belong with me_

_Not swallowed in the sea_

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_The End. Thank you all for reading! Your reviews always made my day, so thanks for that too. We'll see us in the next story. Until then, love from Nari!_


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